Chuck and Sarah vs the Perfect Spot (PG Version)
by P.J. Murphy
Summary: Chuck and Sarah enjoy the fireworks for the Fourth of July, but a chance for a romantic encounter keeps getting interrupted. One-shot holiday story. Happy Fourth of July!


_Hello there. I had a request from BDaddyDL to make a PG version of my traditional Fourth of July story. I admit being skeptical at first, but then I came up with a good story that was quite flexible. I hope it reads well in both versions. The M-rated version of the story is being published at the same time, so feel free to choose whichever story you want. It made for a nice break from work. I'm happy to be back at work, believe me, but my new position has a bit of a learning curve, and I have to admit not having patience with myself. But at least I can pay my bills again, so I got that going for me. Which is nice. :-D _

_Anyway, thanks to BDaddyDL for making this request. Enjoy, please leave reviews, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday._

* * *

_**Burbank, California  
July 4, 2013  
8:40 PM**_

Chuck looked over the large crowd at the park. The Fourth of July event got a lot bigger this year. Instead of just fireworks, it was the second day of a five-day carnival, complete with rides, games, food, and even live bands playing. The highlight, of course, was still the fireworks show that would take place in just over an hour. They went to the carnival yesterday, reasoning it would be a bit less crowded on the first day than it would be the rest of the weekend, and they were correct. Sarah and he had a bit of a competition at the target-shooting game, Sarah daring him to try and beat her without using the Intersect. That was her first mistake, quickly followed by Chuck lulling her into a sense of overconfidence by letting her take the lead in the first round. But years and years of playing videogames, not to mention how long it took Sarah to adjust to the intentionally-unaligned sights on the cheap target rifles, meant he made an epic comeback to win. But he still gave her the giant stuffed teddy bear he won to prove he could be a gracious champion. Then she proved later that night what a gracious loser she was. It was a fun day, to say the least.

Of course, the Fourth of July was always fun for the two of them, particularly in the last several years. Chuck still remembered proving to Sarah how spontaneous he could be three years ago. The following year, Sarah got her revenge. Last year was a bit awkward because Sarah had just begun to recover her memories. But clearly one of those memories was the prior holidays, given what happened.

They agreed this year to just enjoy the fireworks and not get swept up in doing anything more amorous than just kissing and holding each other. It wasn't as if they lacked for excitement in that department. But they came to an understanding early and weren't going to put any undue pressure on each other. Just enjoy the evening in each other's company. Nothing more.

"Chuck?" Sarah stood next to Chuck holding the blanket they brought with them. They were well-prepared for the evening with various picnic items and a very expensive bottle of wine. "Is everything OK?"

Chuck shook his head clear and turned to her. "Couldn't be better."

Sarah looked over the crowd and then turned back to him. "We've had some wonderful times here, haven't we."

Chuck's face lit up with that smile that always made Sarah swoon. Even when she thought Chuck was a rogue agent, thanks to that bastard Quinn, she found herself conflicted at having to take him down. And he did what he promised to do: always be there for her no matter what. The last eighteen months had their trying moments, but she was back to being as happy as she ever was in her life. And everyone who knew her before she lost her memories and afterward had told her the same thing.

"Yes we have," Chuck replied. "And I hope we have many years of wonderful times ahead of us."

Sarah dropped the blanket as she slid her hands around Chuck's neck. She pulled his face down to her and gave him a passionate kiss. Chuck let the picnic basket drop to the ground as he put his arms around his beautiful wife, his fingers gently stroking her long, blonde hair.

"Hey guys!"

Chuck and Sarah separated from each other so quickly when they heard the voice, they almost caused damage. They turned to see Morgan and Alex McHugh walking towards them.

"Morgan, Alex," Chuck acted like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What are you two doing here? I thought you hated fireworks shows, Morgan."

"Well, yeah. Normally, but Alex really wanted to see the fireworks, and there was this band playing earlier at the carnival whom we couldn't miss."

Morgan eyed the picnic basket Chuck and Sarah brought. "Were you two looking for a place to cop a squat for the fireworks? Want some company?"

"Sorry," Alex said. "We were going to eat dinner earlier, but Morgan was determined to win me a prize from that basketball game at the carnival and spent all our money in the process."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Morgan, how many times do I have to tell you? That game is rigged. And being Buy More champion at _NBA '14_ is not exactly a major accomplishment."

"But I got one in," Morgan protested.

"Yeah, fifty dollars to win me a stuffed toy worth about two dollars," Alex said in frustration.

"Tell you what," Sarah interrupted. Why don't you two take the blanket and picnic basket and find us a good spot. We'll join you in a few minutes."

"Are you sure we won't be an imposition?"

"Of course not, Alex," Sarah replied. "We want you here. We just have to get a few more things from the car."

"Oh, let us do that for you," Morgan said. "It's the least we could do for helping us out."

"No, that's OK," Chuck said. "You just go find the spot."

"Thanks," Morgan and Alex said as they grabbed the blanket and picnic basket and took off down the hill to pick out a spot for the fireworks.

Chuck turned to Sarah. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sarah smiled and gave Chuck a kiss. "It'll be fine."

They began to run back towards their car, dodging in and out of people who were coming from the parking lot and heading down to find a good spot for the fireworks. They barely missed a large family who was walking past and not looking where they were going, quickly sidestepping them when Chuck tripped over a cooler and tumbled to the ground. Sarah went to help him up.

"Damn hippies, watch where you're walking," a guttural voice ground out.

Chuck and Sarah turned to the source and stared in shock at seeing John Casey stretched out on a blanket looking as uncomfortable as he ever had. Next to him, Gertrude Verbanski was taking everything in with delight.

"What are you two doing here?" Chuck asked.

"Pretending we're in Dallas on the grassy knoll. What do you think we're doing here?" Casey replied with a hint of disgust.

"No, I mean this isn't the sort of thing you go to."

"No kidding."

"You'll have to blame me for that," Gertrude said. "I wanted John to find me. It turns out, he's as good at finding people as he ever was. We've been inseparable ever since. He talked me into moving to the States full-time, and I figured if I was going to do that, I should get used to some of the traditions you have here. Isn't watching fireworks on July 4th one of those traditions?"

"Of course," Sarah replied. "But you two are really putting in the effort." She glanced over at the cooler. "Various deli meats, cheese, French bread, fruit, and wine? That's a very impressive spread."

Gertrude shrugged. "Well, you know John. When he wants to go all out, he doesn't hold back."

"Good thing Morgan didn't find you," Chuck said. "He'd never let you have a moment's peace if he knew you brought that to the fireworks.

"He's here?" Casey said, his voice rising.

"Easy, Case," Sarah said. "They're enjoying the fireworks just like you. He even won Alex a stuffed toy from one of the carnival games."

"Moron probably blew all of his money winning it for her."

"You know your future son-in-law all too well," Chuck said with a smile, which quickly disappeared when Casey let out one of his patented growls. "Oh, come on. You're OK with them living together. That phrase can't rile you, can it?"

"Baby steps, Chuck," Gertrude replied. "Baby steps."

"OK we'll…stop by later," Sarah said as she pulled Chuck's arm. "We have to get something from the car."

"I'll bet," Casey muttered as Chuck and Sarah continued to head to through the crowd. At this point, the crowd was way too large for Chuck and Sarah to find privacy any other way.

"Wait, what about that one spot we were at a couple of years ago?" Chuck said. "I remember you picked it out because it was so secluded."

"Well, I hope you remember where it was," Sarah said with a grin. "I won't be much help. At least not until we get to it."

Chuck laughed as he led the way. A few minutes later, they made it to the top of the hill. There were a few more people in this area than he remembered two years ago, but it was still quiet compared to the rest of the park. He found a spot that would give them some privacy. That is, until he saw two figures who looked like they had the same idea.

"Ellie? Devon?"

There was a fast rustling around from behind a tree that was half-obscuring the couple lying on the blanket. But Chuck saw a jacket with the logo for Schulman Medical Center, the Chicago hospital where Ellie and Devon worked.

"Chuck, Sarah," Ellie said as she tried to straighten out her shirt…and doing a terrible job of pretending Devon and she weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. "What are you two doing here?"

"Us? We still live in this town. You flew all the way from Chicago just to see Burbank's fireworks? Don't they have them there?"

"My mother wanted some quality time with Clara," Devon explained. "So we decided to leave Clara with her and take a few days off since we wouldn't have been working today anyway. We figured we'd come back to L.A. just to catch up with everyone."

"That won't be too difficult," Sarah said. "Morgan and Alex are here at the fireworks, as are Casey and Gertrude."

"Casey's back? Didn't take him too long to track down his lady. That's awesome."

"Wait Ellie," Chuck said. "How do you know about this hill?" Suddenly it clicked in. "Hold on. You were 16 and Dad told you to keep an eye on me. But you said Gabe Marchand was afraid of…"

Ellie shrugged. "Kind of hard to date a 17-year-old with your kid brother tagging along."

Chuck shut his eyes in pain. "God, this is worse than that morning with the shower."

"Anyway," Sarah quickly said before this got any weirder. "Casey and Gertrude are about thirty yards south of the main stage by the west parking lot if you want to meet up with them."

"Sure. I'd love to see them," Ellie said. "What about you two?"

"We'll be along in a few minutes," Sarah replied with a quick smile towards Chuck. She watched Ellie and Devon gather their blanket and half-completed bottle of wine and walk towards the stage.

Chuck took out his phone. "Morgan? Take our stuff over to the area south of the main stage by the west parking lot. You'll see why."

They headed down to the stage to see Devon and Ellie in conversation with Casey and Verbanski.

"Well, that took you two long enough," Ellie said in annoyance.

"Uh, sis? You have a lovely house in Chicago. Lots of glass so you can look out. I'd avoid picking up any rocks if I were you."

"What's that about?" Casey asked.

"Never mind," Ellie said with a dismissive wave.

"Oh, that's why you wanted us here," Morgan said as Alex and he approached. "Then it's a good thing we won these glasses earlier."

He held up a set of four glasses with the logo for Burbank Family Days on it. "And how much money did you lose trying to win those?" Casey asked with some snark.

"Actually, Dad, I won them," Alex said. "The game where you knock the cans down with a baseball? And on the first try, too."

"That's my girl."

Devon stood in shock. "Did I see a smile on Big John's face? Wow, first for everything."

Chuck opened the bottle of wine in his picnic basket. "A toast!" It was more to stop the conversation from getting any more awkward, but everyone was happy to do so. Sarah took the wine glasses out of their picnic basket as Chuck went around and offered everyone some wine. "To friends, and to family."

"And to working for the best country on Earth," Casey added.

"Happy Fourth of July."

"Happy Fourth of July," everyone replied as they clinked their glasses together. Everyone finished their drink just as the first explosion went off in the night sky. Chuck and Sarah found a spot on the blankets, as did Morgan and Alex.

"I think I like this one the best," Chuck whispered to Sarah as they snuggled together.

"I know I did," she replied, turning her head to give Chuck a kiss.


End file.
